10 Session Recording and Heatmap Tools
I just recently got back from Disneyland with my family and if there is one thing Disneyland does well it is managing crowds and people in the parks and rides. I am sure Disney does a great deal of testing to discover how best to manage the people and crowds at their parks and that testing pays off with people often not minding lining up for over an hour for some rides like Radiator Springs Racers. What do Disneyland rides and your website have in common? Well, like Disney, you can do user testing on your website and learn how to best help your visitors perform the actions that you want them to take on your website.
You no longer need to have a budget of thousands of dollars to find out if users are doing what you want them to be doing on your website. With the use of heatmaps, user session recording and even live sessions website owners can discover quickly and easily how users are using or perhaps not using their website. The best part is you can get basic usage of some of these services for free, so there is no reason to not do some basic testing of your website.
I have not personally tried all of these tools so if you have any opinions on them and how they work feel free to leave a comment.
Inspectlet
I currently have an account at Inspectlet and I am pleased with it. It particularly like the session recording to see what people are doing on my sites. They offer a free plan for up to one website and 100 recorded sessions. The paid plans start at $39.00/month for one website.
Crazy Egg
Crazy Egg was one of the first heatmap tools I used and I still have my account there. While it seems a little dated now since they do not offer session recording only heatmaps I still find it useful to use especially on sites where you just want to see where people are clicking. They offer free trials but no free plans anymore. Paid plans start at $9.00/month if paid annually for up to 10,000 tracking up to 10 pages.
MouseStats
With MouseStats you get session recording, heatmaps and some additional features like small surveys and form analytics. They offer a free plan with limits of 100 heatmaps, session recordings and form analytics. Paid plans start at $16/month. You can save some money if you go for an annual plan.
Decibel Insight
Decibel Insight offers heatmaps, session recording, form analytics, behavioral alerts and even error reporting. They offer a limited free account with 5,000 pageviews per month basic heatmaps and 50 session recordings. Paid plans start at $80.00/month if paid annually with 50,000 pageviews per month.
Mouseflow
Offering heatmaps and session recording Mouseflow also offers a limited free plan with 100 recorded sessions for 1 domain. If you need more or want the full version paid plans start at $19.00/month for 1,000 recorded sessions on one website.
Nirror
Nirror is a little different than the other services. It offers session recording and live support so you can interact with visitors in real time. The website mentions a free plan, but I could not find the details of the free plan only a free trial. Paid plans start at 12€/month with up to 1,000 visits per week for one domain and with one agent account.
Not an official video and really fuzzy but it gets the point across.
SessionCam
Along with session recording and heatmaps you also get form analytics with SessionCam. You can sign up for a free account and get full access to all areas of SessionCam and 500 free recorded pages per month. Paid plans start at $10.00/month for 1,000 recorded pages per month on one domain.
Statvoo
Statvoo is a little different as well and seems to offer a large set of features. Like many of the other services you get session recording but they also offer the ability to chat with site visitors. They do offer a free plan but paid plans are on a per site basis with no base price. That suggests to me they are expensive, but I might have to actually try them out to find out.
Could not find a video, so if I do try them I will look at recording one to add here.
LightedPages
From what I can tell you only get heatmaps, but the service is free with no listing if paid plans or options on the website. Perhaps I just missed it, but if you want a free heatmap service this might be your best option. Could not find a video for them but if you visit their website they do offer a decent demo you can try to see how the service works.
SimpleHeatMaps
Still in private beta and offering free access until it is out of beta. Looks like pricing starts at $5.00/month for one website. Looks like they offer session recording and heatmaps, despite the name just being about heatmaps. Could not find a video demo of the service.
Well there you have it 10 heatmap and session recording services. You have no excuse not to test your website and find out what your users are doing and how you can improve things. You might be surprised by what you learn and what you might want to change.
If you would like a hand setting up some heatmap and session recording drop me a message and I will be glad to help you start testing your website to help improve your website for your visitors.